Gluten-Free French Toast in Cape Cod

We have traveled to Cape Cod and stayed in Dennis for so many years that I never do research or prepare for a week’s stay on the Cape. I know the Stop and Shop will have gluten-free food on the store shelves and in the freezer and that lobster with butter is gluten-free, so what else could I want?

On the one rainy day of our vacation, I went into a Rite Aid and indulged my love of magazines, picking up several for some cozy reading. I purchased Cape Cod Magazine due to the great cover article called “Where to Live, Our Guide to the Best Neighborhoods of the Cape.” It has been a lifelong dream of mine to own a place on the Cape…just eleven years of college tuition first!

As I read it, I saw a special box in the restaurant section with the header, “Hold the Gluten.” In the town next door, Yarmouth, there was an entirely gluten-free restaurant called Idgy’s! You should see the photo of the praline French toast.

We had been planning to go out for a big breakfast one morning. There is a great place in the Harbor and I never mind eating an omlete. But, my husband suggested that we just get up a little earlier and have breakfast at Idgy’s. He would drop us off, take the dog for a run on the beach and then pick us up. His guess was that the teenagers would still be asleep when we returned home.

I had a quiche with tomatoes, onions and linguica sausage and my celiac had the praline French toast. We had both wanted a cinnamon roll to go, but they were in the mixer as a work in progress. We also bought lots of treats for later.

I was watching other orders come out from the kitchen, a huge Belgium style waffle, crispy bacon and toast. I wish I had more room in my stomach. Our breakfasts were really good and we were trying to figure out how we could come back for “Pan’Idgy’s,” a GF version of a Panini’s.

I learned something as a “seasoned” celiac, it’s still important to do a little research and look around for those gluten-free gems, even in places that are very familiar.

Next year, I am going to have some pizza’s built by Idgy’s and pick them up on the way to Dennis. The one thing we have always wanted to do was have pizzas on Mayflower beach for the sunset and so far the local pizza places do not have gluten-free options. So, I will pop back to our rental and bake them up and then pick up all the pizzas, with sodas and beers and celebrate the day’s end with all the other families on the beach.

I can’t believe I have to wait an entire year for sunset pizzas on the beach and a whole year for cinnamon rolls!

Kendall Egan